Taiwan’s environmental authorities said yesterday they are planning to promote potty training for pigs to help curb water and waste pollution.
The Environmental Protection Administration made the pledge following the success of a pig farm in southern Taiwan, where the breeder started to potty-train his 10,000 pigs in late 2009. To keep his animals from defecating in nearby rivers, the breeder has established special “toilets” smeared with faeces and urine to attract the pigs.
This reduced the amount of waste water by up to 80 per cent. As well as making the farm cleaner and less smelly, it also helped reduce illness among the pigs and boosted their fertility by 20 per cent. (AFP)
Picnic with bear
After Dances with Wolves comes Picnic with a Polar Bear: a spectacular video made public yesterday showing a Norwegian adventurer sharing salmon sandwiches with the great white king of the Arctic.
“I gave him salmon sandwiches with mayonnaise,” explained Ragnar Thorseth, as he was filmed feeding a young polar bear from the deck of the Havella, a ship initially built for polar bear hunting.
Shot more than 20 years ago during a visit in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, some 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole, the video was only made public yesterday when a website dedicated to camping and outdoors life posted it at http://ut.no/artikkel/1.7448955# . (AFP)
China TV turns ‘red’
A region in southwestern China has set aside popular TV shows in favour of programming that extols Communist ideals, state media reported yesterday.
The move by Chongqing, one of four cities on a political par with the provinces, is part of a bid to make the government-controlled satellite broadcaster the “first provincial-level red channel,” China Daily said.
The programming switch was aimed at “restoring fading red morals” with shows that will “reflect mainstream social values,” the report said. As part of the switch, Chongqing Satellite Television Channel will replace popular TV sitcoms with homegrown programming featuring Communist-era songs and re-tellings of classic revolutionary stories, the newspaper quoted the channel as saying. (AFP)
Predicted lottery win
A “psychic” described how she predicted she would win £1 million on the lottery just a few months before claiming the prize.
Ocean King, 45, told colleagues about a “feeling in her bones” and set up a syndicate in August.
The team of 15, who work at West London Training in Aldershot, Hampshire, went on to win £66,666.66 each by sharing £1 million on the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle on Christmas Eve. (PA)
National perfume
Lithuania is pioneering a new type of national symbol to convey the character of the ex-Soviet Baltic state in a fragrant way with a bottle of perfume.
The foreign ministry has already sent bottles of the new fragrance to all ambassadors accredited to Vilnius. The project with olfactory appeal is “a good example of how to communicate Lithuania to the public in an innovative way,” according to a foreign ministry statement.
“We wanted to create something special, representing Lithuania and the Lithuanian character,” Mindaugas Stongvilas, an expert in emotional communication behind the project said. (AFP)
‘Dr Death’ to put own body on show
The German anatomist dubbed “Doctor Death”, who has turned stomachs worldwide preserving and displaying dead bodies, said yesterday he is terminally ill and plans to exhibit his own corpse.
Gunther von Hagens, 65, told the Bild mass circulation daily he is suffering from incurable Parkinson’s disease and intends to have his dead body put on display to “welcome” visitors to his exhibition.
“My wife Angelina Whalley, the curator of the Body Worlds exhibition, will plastinate my body. We are already making preparations for this,” the publicity-hungry scientist told Bild.
“My plastinated corpse will then stand in a welcoming pose at the entrance of my exhibition. I want to be able to welcome my guests even after I am dead.” (AFP)
Polite bobbies
Police chiefs have been taking tips on customer service from a department store.
Greater Manchester Police linked up with John Lewis to learn more about the retail giant’s successful methods in treating the general public.
Skills in approachability and politeness will be passed on to officers in Bolton as part of the force’s internal training. Officers will be encouraged to be more professional and considerate when talking to victims and witnesses of crime. (PA)